Grant Gale

American physics professor at Grinnell College who mentored Robert Noyce — introducing him to transistor technology and arranging for Noyce to meet John Bardeen — providing the academic foundation and connections that led Noyce to MIT and eventually to Fairchild Semiconductor.

Represents the mentor whose timely introduction to the right technology at the right moment changes the trajectory of a career — Gale's introduction of Noyce to transistors in 1948 is directly traceable to the founding of Fairchild and Intel.